The epitome of the tortured artist, Craig Taylor-Broad delves into a number of topics in his writing including society, life, sex, love, and the day-to-day. Imparting equal parts sickness-inducing agony to absolute delight, Taylor-Broad pulls a number of sensations out of readers ranging from laughter to nausea. He writes with no limits, speaking from wherever he is so touched, be it is mind, his heart, or from a pit of darkness. Regardless of the mood, each one of his poems and short stories drips with wild desire and agony.

Sample:

There is Safety in a White Lie

I tell my girl that as a race I don’t think people have the ability
to only love one person through the plethora of a long life –
‘I’m not a fucking swan’ I say,

tension takes a heavy handed grip on the kitchen
her yellow gloved fingers bobble  like rubber ducky’s in the sink
and we stand beside each other in silence,

she places a plate on the draining board
faint white bubbles drool over the dregs of leftovers
‘You missed a bit’ I tell her,

she plucks the plate from my eye line, dunks it into the feathery bubbles
scratches at the porcelain for a while, replacing it on the board to dry like the rest
without ever looking at me, and I know not to make another peep,

when the dishes are done she pulls the plug,
the drain gargles like the baby we might have, we might not,
a dirty red water slivers with remnants of our dinner down
the mouth of the sink into its u-bend throat, never to be seen again,

and I quietly watch her quietly watching this happening
the hope of a future with me draining from her eyes, into the sink
with the leftovers too big to just…disappear,

and in that exact moment I made the decision
that I would lie
if it meant that you would feel safe.

 

tagged in craig taylor-broad, poetry, there is safety in a white lie